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I've tried a HEAVY chain and put as much load on it as I dare. It scares the stuffing out of to think of the loads and what would happen if the chain broke. In my attempt I zip tied a 12' 2"x2" board to the spool lever, sheltered behind a wood pile and gave it the juice. The backstop didn't budge and I was glad to have gotten away without additional problems like bodily injury, broken windshield or a hole in my neighbor,s house. Am I being overly cautious?

I'll try a bit of all of the suggestions:
chain w/ moderate pressure
BFH
heat

Thank you VERY MUCH for the time and thinking!

Originally Posted by JSFAB

Sheesh, you have a cylinder right there. Loop a chain over the beam and hook it to itself, come out under the plate, behind the plate, over the plate, to the cylinder. Note: at least a 5/16 grade 70 chain, not hardware store chain. Pull back, then hit with a 12# to 24# sledge on the back side. Repeat as many times as necessary. Nothing major wrong with your design, just that the back-plate needs to be stiffer.

Agreed, this is simple and the up side is it wont cost much, kink or not I agree with welding simple stiffener in the back, several ways to do it, a plate may be sufficient but 2 plates with a backer would be the best, a chunk of 6 inch heavy channel would be the easiest, even chunk of tube steel
This is what makes welding so useful. We had a repair the other day, pin fell out of something and bent or broke a cyl end and a bracket,,, that was the bad news, that and half a day labor, the upside is we had everything to do it with, no expensive part to source or wait for.
A big chunk of steel and a weld up each side, bend it back a little, touch extra the other way.

I don't know how easy it is for you to cut that backer plate or if you have any more of that plate material, but here is an idea to stop the backer bending more and provide a square surface to split against.

I just tried a come-along, heat from an acetylene torch and a 7lb sledge and I got nothing. My neighbor offered his oxy-acet rig with a rosebud for heat so that's the next step in addition to a bigger hammer. If that doesn't work I'll cut a slot halfway through the back of it and use all of the above methods, again. If (when) she straightens out I'll add in three 1/2" plate braces to backside and maybe even two on the front side.

I'd heat it up, use a chain and pull it with the hyd cylinder. But throw an old beach towel or bed sheet over the middle of the chain. If the chain breaks, the towel will dampen any recoil. Also, if you are worried, attach a small rope to the hyd valve so you can stand out of harms way. If you break the chain it isnt anywhere hot enough.